Deep fundamental change happens because of what people do (not what they are given, not what is done to them). When people learn to make use of what they have, where they are, today—then people are moving forward to a future that they can shape according to their priorities. A feedback loop, a revolution of rising aspirations, gets started—where people's hopes cause them to work, then that work produces returns, those returns prompt further work, and this circle calls more people in working with their aspirations. As actions get fulfilled and cause new aspirations, what unfolds is society using what it has, for what it wants, and now calling in resources and action from outside.
Key principles • Build from Success—Don't try to fix failures (note: given that failures are complex eco-systems of individual and community expenditures or experiments with social development, failures should not be completely ignored but understood as historical reservoirs that may inform the successful strategies that the SEED-SCALE practitioner(s) are linking together to generate local change in the present) •
3-way Partnership (Top-down, Bottom-up, and Outside-in)—Three types of partnerships are needed for sustainable development. One is Top-down, involving collaboration among community, government officials, and international financial providers. The other is Bottom-up, involving collaboration within a community to frame and act on priorities. The third is Outside-in, which includes involvement of academia and other development partners, such as the Civil Society organizations and NGOs. • Decide from Evidence—Power Money Dogma not reliable answers • Behavior Change is the Goal—Prescribed outputs can be faked Discussions of the four principles are at: •
Buckminster Fuller Institute •
Future Generations University Action tasks • Develop Leadership = Create Local Coordinating Committee • Starting Point & Resources = Identify Your Community Successes • Obtain Relevant Education = Visit Successes Elsewhere, Adapt and Adopt • Fit your local situation (ecology, economy, & culture) = Self-evaluation survey • Determine direction & partners = Make a work plan • Coordinate resources & time = Gather community participation • Readjust community momentum = To strengthen four principles
Criteria for evaluation • EQUITY=Are more community members involved this time? • SUSTAINABILITY=Three types exist: environmental, economic, values/culture • HOLISM=Is life improving in a balanced way • INTERDEPENDENCE=What is balance in community between inflows and outflows • ITERATION=Get job done, next time do it better
Stages of scale The scaling up process is a feedback loop of rising quality of life that then draws a rising number of participants into it. As more people become involved, their energy stimulates demand for further rising quality of life (typically moving cross sectors such as from health to income generation). Then the rising quality of life draws in more people. The cycle goes on of numerical growth feeding qualitative so long as there is an enabling environment for such of policies and learning that draws on local resource base or distant resources that can be accessed from locales. • Numerical Expansion = SCALE One (Stimulating Community Awareness, Learning, and Energy) • Rising sophistication and quality of life = SCALE Squared (Self-help Centers for
Action Learning and Experimentation) • Expanding the Enabling Environment = SCALE Cubed (Synthesis of Collaboration, Adaptive Learning, and Extension)
Future Generations Graduate School (FGGS) 2015 class, on a residential in India learned on the practical applicability of the SEED Scale in Sevagram (Feb. 09-March 12, 2014). It is an empowering concept that can grow to scale any initiative in the local community whose benefits are long lasting. This is an alternative development paradigm. The different economic development models which have been existing have all but shown their limits. SEED scale appears to be a good alternative for African countries. ==Citations==